The former Packard works steps, Brentford

This site is where they assembled and serviced the Canadian Packard cars. In March 1945 a V2 rocket destroyed the factory and all the remains are the original steps to the showroom. The bomb left 32 dead and 102seriously injured, which makes the sad loss of the building seem a bit insignificant by comparison.

It is now site to a remarkably dull Curry’s retail centre – rather ironic, as it is just along the road from the impressive former Curry’s HQ (see previous post).

Comments

hello,i own the snack bar on the former packard site on the golden mile,do you have any information on who occupied the site from1945 to when currystook over. very interesting article.many thanks,paul meder.

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your comment. Afraid I don’t have any info on who owned the site before Curry’s took over. I’ve got a very interesting book on The History of the Great West Road by James Marshall A.L.A, but it doesn’t mention anything in there. I think the book is out of print now, but it should be available at the local studies section of Hounslow Library (at the Treaty Centre), where they may have more info on who owned the site after the war. Sorry I couldn’t be any more help.
Mr.P.

Hi Joss, Sorry I haven’t replied before now. I don’t know the connection with Leonard Williams off the top of my head, but when I get a chance to do some research I’ll let you know what I find out.
Thanks for being a fan!!
Mr P

As a 8 year old Schoolboy I went to see they bombsite of the bomb that caused a small amount of damage to my School at Isleworth which was a very long way from where it landed on the Packard Factory
I wasn’t allowed along the Great West Rd but looking over the Syon Lane Station Bridge towards London I saw the Railway Cutting that runs behind the factory completely filled with rubble
It must have taken Days to get the trains running again, until then they were routed via Hounslow – Twickenham – Richmond to Barnes and Putney

We’d like to visit the steps of the former Packard Plant on Great West Road. We are from te US and are therefore unfamiliar with this area. Could you supply the cross street and indicate whether the former plant was located on the north or south side of the street, please?

Also, are there tube stations nearby or will it be best to take a taxi?

My father George Eric Avison worked for Leonard Williams until the business closed, I think in the late fifties. He was working in the engine workshop at the rear of the building when the V2 hit. The rocket landed about 30feet away from my father on the other side of a wall which buried him in the rubble. His hand was spotted sticking out of the rubble and he was taken to West Mid hospital by car. He suffered broken bones but no life threatening injuries and fully recovered from his ordeal. He worked mainly on the MTB engines as well as the car engines. When Packard’s shut he moved next door to work for Lincoln Cars for many years. The Packard buildings were rebuilt after the V2 event and were taken over by the Sperry Gyroscope Company who were based further down the Great West Road near Boston Manor Road. I believe when Sperry shut down at Brentford in 1967 the buildings were then taken over by a furniture Company but I cannot be sure.
STRANGE FACT: My father worked at Packards, I worked in the same spot when the site was taken over by Sperry’s. I worked at Sperry’s at Boston Manor and my father worked in the same building when it was taken over by the FIAT Motor Company.
Hope this answers some questions.

Just came across your question of 2012- I hope this isn’t the first response!
My Dad worked at Leonard Williams before and after ww2. He was drafted into the Fairy Aviation factory throughout the war at nearby Heston. He went to see his old colleagues at Packards (as we used to call it) the day the V2 hit- he was cycling home westwards down the Great West Road when he heard it explode. He didn’t know where it had hit until later. After the war they moved next door, on the south side of the road (A4). In the summer school holiday in 1954 when I was 15, I helped out there cleaning cars and doing odd jobs. I was sent to the stores for a “long weight”, and was there for ages! Dad was a diagnostic and test engineer. When road testing he brought home some great cars, including J.Arthur Rank’s Packard Patrician, and gave us rides. Nearest tube (actually above ground there) is Boston Manor. Let me know if I can help further.

I was wrong in my comment about Packards moving next door. From photographs after the war the building looked much as it did before the V2 disaster, so must have been rebuilt. The only difference seems to be that the recessed part at the eastern end was rebuilt as a blank wall at the end of the workshop, instead of an extension of the original two storey office/showroom block, with a large garage door. They must have adapted the space at the west of the showroom to be a car park. I have a photograph of my Dad with two Packards at this spot, taken in the 1950’s, showing the Firestone building in the distance. I have another photograph of the Great West Road taken in 1970 showing the building is missing.

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About Pickles

My name is Pickles McConchie. I’m an 18 year old Art Deco and camera loving Terrier from Scotland, currently living out my retirement in Devon. I like to travel the country with my bitch and pose in front of art deco factories and industrial buildings... Read More…